SAMPLE

COLLECTION
Deepashree Sah
B.Sc. Laboratory Medicine
MBAHS
 SAMPLE COLLECTION
• Sample collection means the process by which a sample of a bodily
Sampl substance is obtained to determine the presence of certain substances in this
e
collect
sample.
ion

• Sample or specimen can be : Blood, Urine, Stool(feces), Sputum, Semen,

Body fluids (such as Pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, Synovial fluid, etc.) ,
Sampl
e
Swabs, saliva etc.

• Proper specimen collection is very important for the good laboratory

practice.
Qualit
y
• Improper collection can cause delay and faulty in reports, dissatisfaction .
 BLOOD
When to collect
blood sample ?

Normally in the morning, Fasting

the internal organs have
not eliminated waste
Patients must requires
products and the body
fasting for 8-12 hours
Medication
doesn’t contain impurities.
So best time for collecting beforehand.
blood sample is morning. Patients are given instructed
not to take medications
before blood tests because
medications will affects the
results
 Blood Collection Methods
Two Methods :
• Vein puncture (penetrating a vein with a needle) with an
evacuated tube system, syringe method, or butterfly infusion

Evacuated tube system

Butterfly infusion
Syringe Method
• Capillary puncture whereby the skin puncture is done with
the use of a lancet. Capillary puncture
 1. Venous Blood Collection
• Introduce yourself.
• Confirm Patient’s details.
• Explain procedure.
• Gain Consent.
• Disinfect area.
• Gather equipment ( Tourniquet, alcohol swabs, injection, sample
tubes, . . Plaster).
• Inspect for a suitable vein (Cephalic or medial cubital or basillic vein).
• Apply tourniquet.
• Clean the site with alcohol swab and allow to dry.
• Anchor the vein from below using your thumb.
• Insert the needle at the angle 30˚ (or less).
• Observe flow of blood and collect the required blood sample.
Continued …
• Release the tourniquet.
• Remove the needle and apply pressure with alcohol swabs.
• Discharge the blood in labeled sample tubes (EDTA tube, Plain tube etc) and dispose
syringe.
• Apply plaster.
2. Capillary Puncture
• Capillary puncture may be used for obtaining specimens in infants or in adults where
venipuncture is difficult.
• Specimens from infants under the age of 6 months are typically collected by heel stick.
Patients over the age of 6 months should have capillary specimens collected by
finger stick.
Capillary Blood Collection
• Introduce yourself.
• Confirm Patient’s details.
• Explain procedure.
• Gain Consent.
• Gather equipment (alcohol swabs, lancet, microtainer
capillary collection device, Plaster)
• Position the patient so that the hand is easily accessible.
• Clean the fingertip of the 3rd (middle) or 4th (ring) finger with an alcohol swab.
• Allow the finger to dry.
• Using a sterile lancet, puncture the fingertip in the fleshy part of the fingertip. This
enables the blood to form as a drop on the fingertip. If the puncture is parallel to the
lines of the fingerprint, the blood will not form as a drop but will run down the finger
making collection difficult.
• Wipe away the first drop of blood.
• Allow another large drop of blood to form.
Continued …
• Collect drops of blood into the collection device by gently massaging the finger.
• Avoid excessive pressure that may squeeze tissue fluid into the drop of blood.
• Fill the microtainer tube(s) as needed.
• Clean the site and apply pressure with a alcohol swab to stop the bleeding. Apply
an plaster.
• Label all specimens.

Blood Collection Tubes

• Serum separating tubes (SST)
• Plasma separating tubes (PST)
 Plasma Separating Tubes (PST)
Top Color Additives Principle Uses
Lavender EDTA -The strongest anti-coagulant - Hematology
Dose= 1to2g/l -Ca+2 chelating agent - Blood bank
of blood

Light Blue Sodium Ca+2 chelating agent - PT

Citrate - APTT:
2g/l

Green Sodium Heparin binds to Thrombin and - Enzymes

Heparin or inhibits the second step in the - Hormones
Lithium coagulation cascade - Electrolytes (Na+,
Heparin (Prothrombin Thrombin) . K+, Mg+, Cl)

Heparin

X
Fibrinogen Fibrin
 Top Color Additives Principle Uses

Gray -Sodium Fluoride Glycolysis inhibitor - Glucose tests

2g/l Anti-Coagulant
-Potassium Oxalate Inhibits the enzyme
Enolase

Serum Separating Tubes (SST)

Top Tubes Additives Principle Uses

Red Sometimes it has gel Enhancing the -Serology

or silicon at the formation of -Antibodies
bottom of tube to blood clot -Hormones
reduce hemolysis -Drugs
-Virology
-Chemistry
-Blood cross
matching before
blood transfusion
• Whole blood and red cells must always be stored at a temperature between
+2 °C and +6 °C. If blood is not stored at between +2 °C and +6 °C, its oxygen-
carrying ability is greatly reduced.

Mix By Inversion

No need to inversion

No need to inversion
 Blood collection (For culture)
• Venous blood is collected.
 Infants :- 2ml
 Children :- 5-10ml
 Adults :- 10-15ml
• Collect blood into Culture bottles
• Request slip must contain patients
information.
• Send immediately to laboratory with
request slip.
• Suspected organism are Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and other
members of the family Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus species,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans etc.
 Urine
When to
collect ?
Best time to collect
Generally it
doesn’t matter Better to collect a first
Why to collect
what time of day morning sample because midstream?
the urine is more
you collect a urine
concentrated and
sample. therefore it is more likely
Always collect mid-stream
sample because collecting a
to show up any mid-stream prevents
abnormalities. likelihood contamination
from bacteria and cells from
the surrounding skin.
 Clean catch urine sample
• The clean-catch urine method is used to prevent germs from the penis or vagina from
getting into a urine sample.
• If possible, collect the sample when urine has been in your bladder for 2 to 3 hours.

How to collect a clean catch urine sample?

• Wash your hands with soap and warm water.
• Clean the skin around the genital area with soap and water or cleaning wipes.
• Urinate a small amount into the toilet bowl,
then stop the flow of urine.
• Hold the well labelled sample container a few inches
(or a few centimeters) from the urethra and urinate until
the sample container is about half full (10ml).
• You may finish urinating into the toilet bowl.
• Store safely and send it to laboratory for diagnosis.
• If you can't give your urine sample in within 1 hour, you should put the
container in a sealed plastic bag then store it in the fridge at around 4˚C.
Don’t keep it for longer than 24 hours because the bacteria in the urine
sample can multiply if it is not kept in a fridge. If this happens, it could affect
the test results.
• Place the urine specimen in the biohazard
transport bag with the absorbent pad and
seal the bag. Wearing the dry ice glove,
immediately place the sealed bag on dry
ice in the transport cooler.

 Suspected organisms are E. coli (coagulase-negative staphylococci,

Klebseilla species, Proteus species, and Enterobacter species.
 Stool (Feces)
Why stool
sample should
be fresh ?
Stool sample must be fresh. If
not, the bacteria in it can
multiply. This means the levels When to collect?
of bacteria in the stool sample
won't be the same as the Specimens are best
levels of bacteria in your
obtained a few hours after In case of diarrhea
digestive system. If the levels
of bacteria don't match, the rest (e.g. morning
test results may be wrong. immediately upon arising Regulate your digestion first
and then collect stool
before bowel movement.) samples.
 Things to be Considered
• Urine shouldn’t be mixed with your feces sample.
• Don’t take stool out of a toilet water.

Best way to collect

• Wash your hands with soap and warm water.
• Wrap a toilet with a plastic film and make a small dip so there is a
space for the stool to collect.
• Discharge your stool on a plastic wrap.
• Now collect a piece of your stool with the help of spoon attached to
the lid of labelled stool container.
• The sample shouldn’t cross the illustrated line.
• Place the sample and secure the lid tightly.
• Make sure there is no leaks otherwise you’ll have submit another
sample.
• Should be transported within 24 hours.
• Should be stored at 4˚C.

• Suspected microbes are Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, E. coli

0157:H7, Yersinia, Aeromonas, Clostridium difficile, etc.

• Mostly helminthes like Platyhelminthes or flatworms (flukes and

tapeworms) and the Nematoda or roundworms etc found in a feces
microcopy.

Ova of tapeworm Ova of Ascaris

 Sputum
What to do and
don’t before
collection ?
Drink plenty of water What to do before
the night before collection ?
collection.
Don’t eat, drink or Rinse the mouth before When to collect?
sputum is collected to
smoke before coughing minimize residual food
up sputum from the particles, mouthwash or oral Best time to collect
lungs. drugs that might
contaminate the specimen.
sputum is when you first
wake in the morning .
 How to collect?
• As soon as you wake up in the morning (before you eat or
drink anything), brush your teeth and rinse your mouth
with water. Do not use mouthwash.
• If possible, go outside or open a window before
collecting the sputum sample. This helps protect other
people from TB germs when you cough.
• Take a very deep breath and hold the air for 5 seconds.
Slowly breathe out. Take another deep breath and cough
hard until some sputum comes up into your mouth.
• Spit the sputum into the labelled sample container.
• Keep doing this until the sputum reaches the 5 ml line.
• Prevent leak and close the lid tightly.
 • Sputum should be stored in a cool place/ refrigerated at 4°C to inhibit the
growth of unwanted microorganisms
• The sputum specimen is packaged in triple layers in such a manner that it
arrives at the destination in good condition and presents no hazard to the
transporter.
• The double layer packaging contains the following:
1. Primary container- A watertight, leak-proof, unbreakable tube
containing the specimen. The tube is packaged with enough
absorbent material to absorb all fluid in case of breakage or
leakage.
2. Secondary packaging- A watertight, leak-proof packaging to
enclose and protect the primary container. Several primary
containers may be placed in one secondary packaging.
Thank
You